Outrage: Pentagon Grants Five States Waivers from MOVE Act
Bureaucracies tend to creek and groan when they have something new to do, and the creaking and groaning was deafening with MOVE Act implementation. Take the failure of the Department of Justice Voting Section to ever respond to the Pentagon’s draft final waiver guidance for states. FVAP officials wanted to give states early guidance about what would or would not justify a waiver, and the Pentagon wanted to publish the information well in advance of the July 28 deadline for states to submit waiver applications. So FVAP sent draft guidance to bureaucrats in the Voting Section last spring.
While they waited for the DOJ, the Pentagon had to issue “interim” guidance on May 24, 2010. It foreshadowed the problem:
Please be advised that [FVAP] will not to be able to provide guidance … until detailed guidance is available.
In a dereliction of their responsibility to provide advice to FVAP, officials in the Voting Section allowed the Pentagon draft to gather dust. In fact, the Department of Justice never replied. As a result, states never received the long-promised final waiver guidance, and were forced to submit waiver applications at the last minute without any hint of administration policy.
Back in March 2010, Hawaii was begging for policy clarity from the Pentagon. Scott Nago, the Hawaii chief election official, wrote to them:
We were told your office was still in consultation with the attorney general and that we would be informed once that consultation was complete. It is our understanding that no application has been submitted by any jurisdiction with a late primary election as they are waiting for further guidance from your office.
We all are still waiting. This abdication of MOVE Act duty by DOJ officials may explain why this article about waiver decisions is appearing in late August, instead of late May.
This example also demonstrates the difference between a bureaucracy run by Robert Gates, and one run by Eric Holder. General Holder should find out on whose desk the Pentagon’s draft was allowed to gather dust for months, and he should take swift and appropriate action against the bureaucrat. Because states submitted late waivers, full implementation of MOVE waiver policy was delayed to the outer limits of the statute.
To complicate matters further, DOJ officials were actively undermining MOVE Act protections throughout the spring. Not only did one Voting Section official tell states that the provisions of the new law were “vague” and a lawsuit “was a last resort,” an analysis Senator John Cornyn has characterized as laughable, they encouraged states to apply for waivers.
State election officials who were in attendance for Justice Department presentations said they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
Worse yet, these same Justice Department officials told multiple officials that once a MOVE waiver was granted, it might be permanent, carrying over to the 2012 presidential election, despite express statutory language to the contrary. Such staggeringly bad legal advice came from both political appointees as well as career attorneys in the Voting Section. So embarrassing was the position, that senior political DOJ appointees retreated from the position once Senator Cornyn heard about it.
The apologists for the waivers and lack of DOJ enforcement cite the fact this is a “transitional year,” a term that appears nowhere in the law. They say the waiver provisions contemplate a “late” primary. But every state with a late primary could have done something about it to comply with MOVE.
Florida did. Georgia did. Vermont did.
It was simply a question of legislative priorities, and states like New York, Massachusetts, and Colorado did nothing to fix the problem.
The ball is now in the Justice Department court once again. Will they sue the states like Colorado and Wisconsin who are blatantly noncompliant with the MOVE Act?
Ballots need to mail in just a few weeks to Iraq and Afghanistan. We all know who is breaking the law, right now. It isn’t rocket science. Every day that DOJ delays a lawsuit means some solider guarding a dangerous frontier will lose their vote. Shameful bureaucratic inaction by the DOJ in the days ahead will have real and tragic consequences. The attorney general should immediately order the Voting Section to file lawsuits against Colorado, Alaska, and Wisconsin.
It would take diligent Justice lawyers a day, at most, to draft and file a complaint. Our heroes serving overseas don’t have the luxury of going AWOL.
Protecting the rights of US public to have their vote counted is apparently not a priority for J. Christian Adams…. if it was he’d be more interested in the fact obama has been required to run for president… Proof has now surfaced that Missouri didn’t ask for any info from obama.
video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm6ig4uTWPI&feature=player_embedded
few lines of the transcript
“Maldonado, a U.S. Army combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, explains on his website that he became a U.S. citizen in 1995. But he said Secretary of State Robin Carnahan sent him a letter in May asking him to produce documentation.
“It said, ‘Hey, you have to prove you’re a citizen.’ I ignored it,” he said. “You know, Obama ignored it, so I figured I could get away with it, too.”
Maldonado said he asked Carnahan’s office if his citizenship documentation would be public record and available to anyone who wants a copy.
“They said, oh yes, absolutely, anyone that wants proof, we have it,” he explained. “I said, OK, can you do me a favor then? I’m sure Ms. Carnahan requested the same of Barack Obama when he petitioned to get on the Missouri ballot to become president.”
He added, “They had no response. They had nothing.” …
In an earlier interview on the subject, Maldonado said he spoke with other candidates running for the same office and asked if they had to show proof of citizenship or prove that they were citizens.
“They said no. I was the only one,” he said. “… I just don’t know, if I were running as a Democrat, would I have to prove the same thing? Or is there a more stringent process for the Republican candidates?”
Maybe you should start looking at the big picture… whats voter fraud matter if the candidates aren’t even legit in the race…. election fraud starts with letting anyone run regardless of election rules… your to busy playing with the @ss end of this issue its a joke.
Sorry “Robotech Master.” Birth Certificate articles aren’t exactly at the top of my queue. Guilty as charged.
Tis ok caring about the US Constitution not exactly the in thing as of the last 20 years or so…
Sorry “christian”. Selectively asking for proof of citizenship from one claimant but not from another is discriminatory and proof of corruption. All must offer proof if proof is required… or none may be asked at all.
Interesting… I didn’t see anything in Mr. Adams’ article about requiring proof of citizenship for voting.
I mean, stupid conservative that I am, I thought that he was talking about getting ballots to members of our armed forces early enough that they could vote and send them back in time for them to be counted. I guess I’m just not “right” enough to see where Mr. Adams is referring to proof of citizenship in the article above. So you’ll have to point it out to me, because obviously I’m just too dumb to notice it.
Please show me the paragraph and sentence in this article where he speaks on that issue.
Hmmmmm, RM, let me see if I understand your thinking. Adams should stop pouring water on the fire in the kitchen and instead concentrate on rebuilding the charred walls of the burned-out family room. Apparently the kitchen will take care of itself. Great logic, that, but based on a fantasy view of reality. Adams is doing what he can where he knows the playing field. We need others [maybe RM who seems to know so much about it?] to jump in and fulfill other needs.
Nail. Head.
Don’t you think that if it were possible to prove that Obama was not eligible to become President, that the Clintons would not have done it? When the Clinton mafia couldn’t prove Obama ineligible, they started the rumors.
Another reason I don’t believe the rumors, is several State Department employees and contractors were dragged into court for unauthorized research into the passport files of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama. Passport files have (or should have) copies of original birth certificates. Can you imagine a defense lawyer not bringing out a “smoking gun”, if it existed, proving a justification to look at the files and making their contents public?
Lastly, have you noticed that Obama has done nothing to dispel the rumors, not even releasing a legal or a “forged” document? That is because he loves to discredit his critics rather than dealing with real issues. If you are focusing on his birth certificate, then you are not stopping bailouts or the government takeover of the the health insurance business or any number of other unconstitutional things he has done.
we all know what happens when DOJ wants to make a statement i.e. Arizona. Ain’t happening here, is it.
maybe a reporter with some moxie will ask about this at a press briefing…naaawwww…
So, would anyone outside the DoJ have standing to file? Could, say, a member of the military from Colorado provide the requisite standing?
Charlie in CO: Suggest you contact Eric Eversole at the Military Voter Protection project. There may be lawsuits in the works to take this out of the hands of the DOJ.
http://www.mvpproject.org/mission.html
Guess they’ll try to make up for loss of voters by expanding the voting rights of felons.
And parents of anchor babies????previously known as illegal immgrants???
Based on previous stories, it appears that the DOJ official responsible for this debacle was a woman named Becky Wertz. She should be fired.
We need to know more about Becky. Exactly who is she, where is she, who gave her her power, who said she could do this?
Maybe they’ll up for losses among military voters by expanding voting rights for felons.
I find this appalling. It is astounding that this is going on and it isn’t being picked up anywhere. For years I thought of myself as a Democrat, but it has taken a number of major shakeups in my understanding of current events to finally awaken me. Christian, you’re a true American hero if you don’t mind me saying so, and I wish there were more people like you out there.
For those of you that serve this should be a wake up call (if you haven’t already received it) of just how much this administration Really Really CARES about you.
You really would think the powers to be would be a lot more appreciative of the job your do for all Americans….
Totally disgraceful of any State to take this stance with serving military members right to cast their vote for the civilian leaders.
only an amuse-bouche of what will be coming along if we do not stop this.
And the Federal gov. for letting them get away with it.
Blue states opposed to helping servicemembers pursue their right to vote. Imagine that? And Dems support the troops.
Do you really think that these blue states would be so eager to bury these voters, if they weren’t likely to be far more Republican-leaning than the states, or if this were not projected to be an election where even solid blue-state pols are under threat?
Right on the money Barry. Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington are all solidly blue states, the military tends to vote conservative. Democrap politicians know it is to their advantage to disenfranchise a group of voters likely to oppose them.
To: Robotech Master,
Nobody really cares about your birther fantasies.
To: Everyone else
Most of these birther posts are Democrats posing as the little boy in the movie “Deliverance”. As for the rest, the best you can do is publicly distinguish yourselves from them and move on.
They’re fighting for freedom of religion, but I don’t see much of that these days. They’re fighting for freedom of speech, but nobody here wants to hear an opposing view. They’re fighting for the right to pursue happiness, but Ken Mehlman can’t get married. They’re fighting for our right to vote, but alas . . . such is the result of the philosophy of “no” from the right.
Who’s depriving anyone of freedom of religion? 60% of the nation opposes the chewing-tobacco-spit-in-our-faces positioning of a Islamist monument on a site struck by one of the World Trade Center planes’ landing gear, but no one I’ve heard has called for government intervention to prevent it. We just want to end the careers of the politicians who support it.
No one here HAS to listen to an opposing point of view. That’s called freedom of association, and it doesn’t impede your speech one bit. You have a right to speak, not a right to be listened to.
Who’s stopping Ken Mehlman from getting married? He has the same right as any of us to be married. He just doesn’t get any special privilege to marry someone of the same sex as himself.
22 years Army service, now retired, and married to an Army Doc on active duty.
If you are in the military and vote for a Democrat, any Democrat, you are voting against your best interests.
Period.
Diggs you are so right. I wouldn’t trust a deemocrat in the outhouse with a muzzle on,
here’s the delema , we go to the voting booth and vote for whome we please, thereby excersizing our right to vote, but in reality, its all a waste of time,,and an elusion of democracy BECAUSE when its all said and done, the final bottom line is determined by lobbyists buying official favours !adding and subtracting pork to suit (usually the highest payer) so voting becomes useless ! as our situation stands at present, there is more democracy to be had in a country governed bory a dictator than voting to be ledgitamate !
Can you say, “Federal lawsuit”?
Although having registered Republican all my adult life, I have in the past voted for individual Democrat candidates if I thought they were best suited.
That all changed in 2000, when Al Gore’s travelling goon circus began dumping military absentee ballots for completely spurious reasons. Since then I have sworn never to vote Democrat.
Ever.
Crap on my citizenship like that, where the hell do you get off asking me for support? Do the Dems think the troops are the equivalent of battered wives afraid to report an abusive husband? Do they think we can’t smell the foul stench coming from their pompous and sanctimonious protestations of support? It isn’t enough that they cozy up to specimens such as Code Pink, they strive to disenfranchise us as well, and then sneer at our values and concerns?
Steve I too used to vote for the person wrather than the party. not any more the democrats have cured me of that habit, I am an independant still. but I will be voting republican now even though I have a democratic congressman who has done a great jod. he is still a part of the obama pelosi searchlight harry machine and as far as I am concerned that machine is broke and should be junked out,
Yikes! If this isn’t resolved there will be a mighty snap-back. What planet are these buffoons living on?
Please people–its just a matter of priorities. If we accommodate all those Neanderthal soldier types we won’t be able to properly process the votes of all those dead people out there who truly do have a difficult time getting to the polls to vote.
And gosh–who is more deserving of our effort? Dead people never hurt anybody. You just have to love them. Live people, especially soldiers, may be harmful to (politicians with the minds of) children and other living things.
Priorities people—priorities.
I bet if the soldiers were members of the New Black Panthers, Holder would be moving Heaven and Earth to make sure they got a chance to vote.
Screw them military people, lousy baby killers! (Thank you, Democrats. Remember in November, folks!)
anonymous. I dont blame you for not putting your name on such a STUPID post, I have over 20 years in the military and we are not baby killers in spite of IDIOTS like you and your ilk. such IDIOTS as you should keep your STUPID crappy thoughts to your self. just how many babeys have you ever seen an American soldier kill?? you STUPID ASS,
Would someone who really meant the first part have added the second?
I think not. That looks like satire to me.
Doesn’t this disproportionately affect minorities? Aren’t there laws about that?
The Dem machine in WA state really, really doesn’t want servicemembers to vote. We have a past history of voting irregularities, even to the point of having a stolen gubernatorial election. A few thousand more R votes could shift the balance, particularly this year.
Nothing to see here folks. Just more Dem corruption and subversion of democracy.
I have wrote every delegate and senator because MD asked for a waiver and the election board gave us conflicting information about how my son, now serving in Iraq, could obtain a ballot. The state election board website recently was modified to allow one to apply for the ballot, have it placed on the website, allows one to then copy it, fill it out and mail it or FAX it. However the ballot, as I expected, cannot be submitted via the Internet. Anyway, this is an improvement and I notified my son.
All states should have implemented this type of program
The Maryland State Election Board has issued this press release:
. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE RELEASES MARYLAND FROM MOVE ACT WAIVER REQUEST
Maryland withdraws MOVE Act waiver request, in full compliance with Act requirement
ANNAPOLIS, MD (August 26, 2010) – State Administrator of Elections Linda H. Lamone announced today that the U.S. Department of Defense found Maryland to be in compliance with the requirement of the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act to mail absentee ballots to military and overseas voters at least 45 days before the general election. This Act was designed to increase enfranchisement of overseas and military voters.
“We’re very pleased to be in compliance with the federal MOVE Act and clearly demonstrate our continuous commitment to serving military and overseas voters,” said State Administrator of Elections Linda H. Lamone. “While the request for a waiver was the safety net we needed while we continued to develop solutions, ultimately our solutions – above and beyond those required by statute – bring Maryland into compliance with the Act and we can now move forward.”
The requirement to mail ballots to military and overseas voters 45 days in advance of the general election posed a challenge for many states – including Maryland – due to the small window of time between the primary election and the general election, the dates for which are both mandated by State law. In July, the State Board of Elections applied for a waiver to the MOVE Act, concerned that the 48 days between Maryland’s primary and general elections would not provide adequate time to prepare certified general election ballots for mailing overseas. While the waiver request was pending, Maryland elections officials continued pursuing several solutions to ensure ballots cast by military and overseas voters would be received in time and counted.
The State Board of Elections has developed a comprehensive plan to ensure that military and overseas voters have as much time as possible to receive their absentee ballots, vote them, and return them so that they can be counted. The plan includes:
· Giving priority to processing the absentee ballots requests of military and overseas voters, a requirement of Maryland regulations.
· Transmitting federal only ballots to military and overseas voters 45 days prior to the general election.
· Expediting delivery of full ballots, including state and local contests, to military and overseas voters.
· Providing electronic access to absentee ballots if previously requested by military and overseas voters. These voters will not have to wait for paper ballots to arrive in the mail.
· Accepting Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots for all contests.
· Providing extra time to receive absentee ballots that are postmarked on or before election day and received by the 2nd Friday after the election.
· Providing on State Board of Elections’ website (www.elections.state.md.us) specific information for military and overseas voters.
I stumbled on this article doing research from my blog The Hubbardston Independent. As a decorated veteran, I was so saddened when I saw this happening in MA. I might suggest everyone post this on your Facebook page and circulate this.
This illegal President has an adgenda to destroy our private sector in order to build a socialist nation. Think about it.
Notice that all the elected officials in charge of elections that received waivers are Democrats.
The priceless irony in all this is the very folks being “diss’d” by this administration are the ones some there will try to rely on to save their bacon if and when a violent revolution comes our way. All politics being “local”, those WH’ers looking for ways to control “uprisings” are gonna find spotty success relying on state and local LE officers, many of who’s leadership will be co-opted by contrarian local authorities. Hence the assumption the only “reliable” forces remaining will be federal.
Good luck with that. Their oath is to the constitution, too, not to the “one”. Any military commander attempting to use his/her forces to circumvent civil disobedience in this country against an administration perpetrated by run-of-the-mill citizens is likely not long for this world. Friendly fire. Works every time.
“Protecting the rights of active duty military to have their vote counted is apparently not a priority for this administration.”
Well, for sure it’s not as important as making sure that Ms. Obambi and a couple of zillion of her closet pals get a nice luxury vacation in Spain.
Don’t underestimate personal animosity as an engine driving some of these creeps. Bill Galvin in Mass. flat-out hates the military. It goes back to the Vietnam War, when he was a draft dodger. He’s reacted to the shame of his cowardice by lashing out at those who don’t share his broad yellow stripe.
This poll is from 2008, when he previously disenfranchised deployed MA voters, including members of his own state’s National Guard (he hates them just as much as he hates regulars).
http://polldaddy.com/poll/1033135/?view=results
As you see, people were on to him then. He was forced to settle with the DOJ over that, but he’s been liberated by the new Obama DOJ. The Obama administration doesn’t like the military any more than Galvin does, so they’re enabling him.
Bill Galvin doesn’t hate everything. He likes power, money, and Bill Galvin. But Galvin hates servicemembers and never misses a chance to show it. He’s a despicable, evil, corrupt toad — although that may be unfair to warty, poisonous terrestrial amphibians.
Here’s Galvin turning thousands in campaign contributions to him into hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars to his favorite law firm:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1171083&srvc=rss
There is no investment with better ROI than slipping some coins to this kind of politician, is there? Cha-chingg! “Bill Galvin, will you take the money, or the prize?” “Both!” Cha-chingg!
Here’s Galvin in 2008 disenfranchising voters — like he just did again — for the crime, as he sees it, of serving in the military, which he wouldn’t do himself. (It’s a Michael Graham column).
http://thehaverhillinitiative.blogspot.com/2008/10/is-this-how-massachusetts-treats-its.html
Now Galvin has successfully locked the military out of voting in his state in 2004, 2006, 2008, and — now with the help of the Feds — 2010. Remember the old Bond villain quote? “Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.” Well, this is four times. Except that Galvin’s the villain. Where’s Bond when you need him? Well, even if he’s naturalized, no worries about him voting. Not in Galvin’s People’s Republic of Massachusetts.
But it gets even better. Galvin tried to use military voters, whom he has always tried to prevent voting, to prevent Sen. Brown’s election from being validated in 2009. (The military vote broke strongly for Brown, himself — unlike the cowardly Galvin — a veteran, so Galvin’s ploy was corrupt and cynical. For him, normal).
When the country called, Galvin said, “send someone else.” Then he spent the rest of his life trying to rip off the somebody else. Massachusetts Guardsmen will be engaged in combat on election day this year — but thanks to Galvin, they won’t be voting. He’s a real crass act.
I wonder if they could get the job done if the bases in their states were to be closed if they didn’t.
NOBODY has more of a right to have their votes counted than troops stationed away from home. It’s highly suspicious that the states being granted waivers are liberal bastions.
This sounds like the same thing that Frankin got away with to get his Senate seat even though there were more people that voted for him that were felons. So if you take away the felons votes that are illegal then Coleman should be the Senator and not Frankin. Now if this was a Republican you can believe they would have already taken those illegal votes away from Coleman. Besides all the Military votes they refused to count. All I can ask is what is happening to our great country?
Betty Knows had commented, ‘..but nobody here wants to hear an opposing view’.
Betty, the 1 ‘opposing view’ I’ve read is from robotech monster – who brought up birth certificate nonsense when the piece is about the MOVE Act!
If you or robotech monster can stay focused, topic at hand perhaps a discussion can be made.
Until then, I guess we’ll settle for your, ‘Woe is me for my go-nowhere emotional rants’.
Honestly, when you ATTEMPT to discuss current events with people vis-a-vis, does your audience tend to look at their watch, look around frantically, nod at inappropriate times and leave ‘in the middle’ of your diatribe?
If so, you may want to reconsider your stance and READ about topics you ignorantly though poroudly (sad..) know little/ next to nothing of.
Gee, I guess the military doesn’t trust Barry Hussein, just like 50% of the American people. I guess this will be another news story that won’t be on the Lame-Stream media (especially Pravda MSNBC)?
Lets get those Welfare votes in!!
The Military…not so important…
There is something evil going on if the federal government won’t ensure the right to vote for all American service-members. Some of our troops deployed overseas are going to be dying before 2011. But their votes won’t count in 2010?
When you write an article on the MOVE Act, don’t you think it would be a good idea to tell the reader what MOVE stands for and what the MOVE Act is?